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Citizenship

2007-05-04

Maeci

(Office of Reference: D.G.IT. - OFFICE III)

While clarifying that the matter of citizenship falls within the competence of the Ministry for Internal Affairs, we provide here below an overview of the current legislation with specific reference to the procedures that can be started at the consular offices of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Italian Citizenship

Italian citizenship is currently regulated by Law No. 91/1992 (and related implementing regulations: in particular, Presidential Decree No. 572 of October 12, 1993 and Presidential Decree No. 362 of April 18, 1994) which, unlike the previous Law, revalues the importance of individual intention in the acquisition or loss of citizenship and recognises the right to hold more than one citizenship at the same time.

The principles on which Italian citizenship is based are the following:

citizenship acquired for being born on Italian soil (“ius soli”) in some cases;

the possibility of dual citizenship;

the declaration of willingness to acquire or renounce citizenship.

ACQUISITION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

Italian citizenship can be acquired in one of the following ways:

1. CITIZENSHIP AS A RESULT OF ITALIAN PARENTS/ANCESTORS (“ius sanguinis”)

Article 1 of Law No. 91/92 lays down that a person acquires Italian citizenship when born of a father or a mother who are Italian citizens. Hence the principle of ius sanguinis - already enshrined in the previous legislation - is reaffirmed as a key principle for the acquisition of citizenship, while the ius soli remains an exceptional and residual case.

While explicitly stating that also the mother can transmit citizenship, the Article fully acknowledges the principle of equality between men and women as regards the transmission of the status civitatis.

Recognition of the possession of citizenship to foreigners descending from Italian ancestors who emigrated to countries where the ius soli is in force.

While Article 1 of the Law of 1912 reaffirmed the principle of recognition of Italian citizenship through paternal lineage to the citizens' children regardless of their place of birth, as already provided for in the Civil Code of 1865, Article 7 was meant to ensure that the children of Italian emigrants could maintain the link with their ascendants’ country of origin, thus introducing an important exception to the principle of single citizenship.

In fact, Article 7 of Law No. 555/1912 enabled the children of Italian citizens, born in a foreign State which had granted them citizenship according to the principle of ius soli, to retain the Italian citizenship acquired at birth, even if the parents lost it when minors, thus recognizing to the persons concerned the significant right to renounce it when becoming of legal age, if living abroad.

This special rule derogated not only to the principle of single citizenship, but also to the principle whereby the fate of the children’ s citizenship depends on the father, as provided for by Article 12 of Law No. 555\1912.

Hence the conditions required for such recognition are based, on the one hand, on the demonstration of descent from the subject originally having the status of citizen (the ancestor who emigrated) and, on the other, on the proof that there were no interruption in the transmission of citizenship (failed foreign naturalization of the ancestor before the birth of the children; absence of declarations of renunciation of Italian citizenship by further descendants before the birth of the next generation, thus proving that the transmission of citizenship did not stop).

The procedures for recognizing the possession of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis were specifically formalized in circular letter No. K.28.1 of April 8, 1991 of the Ministry for Internal Affairs, the legal validity of which was not affected by the subsequent entry into force of Law No. 91/1992.

The authority competent for carrying out the ascertainment shall be determined according to the place of residence: for those living abroad it is the competent Consular Office having territorial jurisdiction.

The recognition procedure develops with the following steps:

To ascertain that lineage started with an Italian ancestor (there are no limits of generations); to ascertain that the Italian ancestor retained Italian citizenship until the birth of the descendants. The lack of naturalization or the date of any naturalization of the ancestor shall be proven by a certificate issued by the competent foreign Authority. Descent from the Italian ancestor shall be proven by means of civil status documents of birth and marriage; said documents shall be duly legalized, if requested, and accompanied by an official translation. In this regard, it should be noted that the transmission of Italian citizenship through maternal lineage is possible only for children born after January 1, 1948, e.g. the date of entry into force of the Constitution. It should be certified that neither the applicant nor the ascendants have ever renounced Italian citizenship, thus interrupting the transmission of citizenship, through appropriate certificates issued by the competent Italian diplomatic and consular authorities.

The applicant shall submit the application accompanied by the required complete documentation designed to prove the requirements and conditions listed above.

The application shall be submitted to the Consular Office of the district in which the foreigner of Italian origin lives.

2. CITIZENSHIP GRANTED TO PERSONS BORN ON ITALIAN SOIL (“ius soli”)

Italian citizenship is granted to:

- the subjects born on Italian soil whose parents are unknown, stateless or cannot pass on their citizenship to their children according to the laws of the State of which they are citizens (Article 1, paragraph 1, subparagraph b, of Law No. 91/92);

- the children of unknown parentage found abandoned on Italian soil, whose citizenship is impossible to ascertain (Article 1, paragraph 2, Law No. 91/92).

3. ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP WHEN MINORS

Law No. 91/92 attaches particular importance to the acquisition of citizenship when minors as a result of:

A minor who is recognized by an Italian citizen to be of Italian parentage or is declared to be of Italian parentage through a judiciary ruling on paternity / maternity (Article 2, paragraph 1, of Law No. 91/92).

If the recognition or judicial ruling regards persons of legal age, they acquire Italian citizenship only if, within a year since the recognition or the judicial ruling, they express their will to this end, through a declaration "of election of citizenship" (Article 2, paragraph 2, of Law No. 91/92).

If the recognition or judicial ruling regards persons of legal age, pursuant to Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 572 of October 12, 1993 (Regulation implementing Law No. 91/92), the declaration with which they choose citizenship pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Law shall be accompanied by the following documents:

birth certificate (for the purposes of precisely ascertaining the identity of the person concerned);

deed of acknowledgement or certified copy of the judicial ruling on paternity/maternity;

parent’s citizenship certificate.

Said deeds are prerequisites for requesting citizenship.

Finally, it should be noted that the recognition or judicial ruling may have been issued abroad: in this case the one-year period within which to make the declaration of election of citizenship shall be calculated from the date on which the foreign ruling is made effective and binding in Italy.

b) CITIZENSHIP BY ADOPTION.

Italian citizenship is granted to any minor child adopted by an Italian citizen by means of a ruling of the Italian Judicial Authorities or, in case of adoption abroad, by means of a ruling issued abroad and made effective and binding in Italy, through an order (issued by the Juvenile Court for minors) for enrolling in the Civil Status Register.

Adoptees of legal age can acquire citizenship by naturalization after 5 years of legal residence in Italy since the adoption.

c) CITIZENSHIP BY PARENTS’ NATURALIZATION

In accordance with Article 14 of Law No. 91/92 "The minor children of those who acquire or reacquire Italian citizenship, when living together with them, shall acquire Italian citizenship, but, after coming of legal age, they can renounce it, if in possession of other citizenship".

Hence the acquisition of citizenship takes place automatically only when they live together and the subject is not of legal age according to the Italian legal system.

Hence the parents who have become Italian can pass their status civitatis on their children if they meet the three following conditions:

there is a parent-child relation; the children are not of legal age; they live together with their children.

Article 12 of Presidential Decree No. 572/93 clearly lays down that the condition of living together shall be stable and effective, as well as certified with appropriate documentation, and shall also exist at the time of the parent’s acquisition or reacquisition of citizenship.

4. ACQUISITION BY CLAIM

This type of acquisition, regulated by Article 4 of Law No. 91/92, refers to cases that apply only to the Italian territory. Hence reference is made to the Interior Ministry for the relevant regulations.

5 CITIZENSHIP BY MARRIAGE TO AN ITALIAN CITIZEN OR BY CIVIL PARTNERSHIP

The acquisition of citizenship by the foreign or stateless spouse of an Italian citizen is regulated by Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Law No. 91/92.

The foreign spouse can acquire Italian citizenship upon request, if the following requirements are met:

in Italy: two years of legal residence after marriage; abroad: three years after marriage.

These terms are halved in the following cases: children born or adopted by the spouses; validity of marriage and persistence of the marriage bond until the adoption of the decree; absence of convictions for offences leading to a maximum penalty of three years of prison or convictions by a foreign judicial authority of over one year for non-political offences; absence of convictions for one of the offences listed in Book 2, Title I, Chapters I, II and III of the Criminal Code (offences against the State); absence of obstacles related to the security of the Italian Republic.

As from August 1, 2015, the subjects living abroad shall submit an application to acquire the Italian citizenship electronically according to the new procedure established by the competent Ministry for Internal Affairs.

The applicants shall register on the dedicated portal, called ALI, at the following URL address https://cittadinanza.dlci.interno.it and, after logging in, they will have access to the e-procedure for submitting the citizenship application.

With a view to facilitating the identification of the diplomatic and consular authorities competent for receiving the application, there is a link at the above-mentioned web address enabling users to select the country of residence and later to choose - through a drop-down menu - the competent authorities, by having access to a list including the whole diplomatic-consular network of the selected country.

The user shall complete all the fields envisaged by the form and enclose the following four mandatory documents indicated by the Interior Ministry to submit the application for citizenship:

a) birth certificate of the country of origin duly translated and legalized (in compliance with the obligations provided for by law in relation to legalization/ apostille and translation) containing all relevant data or, in case of documented impossibility of producing it, an affidavit issued by the diplomatic-consular authorities of the country of origin stating all accurate personal details (name, surname, date and place of birth), as well as those of the applicant’s father and mother;

b) criminal record of the country of origin and of any third countries of residenceas from 14 yearsof age, duly translated and legalized (in compliance with the obligations provided for by law in relation to legalization/ apostille and translation);

c) receipt of payment of 200 euro;

d) certified copy of the identification document (with attached official translation in Italian, where the document does not contain data also in English or French, in addition to the original language), certified by the diplomatic-consular Mission of the foreign State that issued it.

After submitting the application electronically, the user will be summoned by the diplomatic-consular Mission that received the application for the identification and the other requirements and procedures necessary for completing the application, including the acquisition of the original documents attached to the application submitted online and of any other document useful for processing the application. In this regard it is specified that, if the applicant is an EU citizen, the following deeds, i.e. copy of the marriage certificate, family status certificate and certificate of Italian citizenship of the spouse, are replaced by self-certification pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 445/2000 and most recently by Law No. 183/2011.

The applicant who is a citizen of a non-EU country may be exempted from submitting copy of the marriage certificate, the family status certificate and the spouse's certificate of Italian citizenship only if these deeds are already in possession of the diplomatic-consular Mission.

In accordance with Article 4, paragraph 5, of Presidential Decree No. 572/93, the Interior Ministry may request other documents, as appropriate.

It should be recalled that, pursuant to Interior Minister’s directive of March 7, 2012, as from June 1, 2012, the competence to issue the decrees for granting citizenship falls within:

• the Prefect for applications submitted by foreigners legally living in Italy;

• the Head of the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration, if the foreign spouse lives abroad;

• the Interior Minister if there are reasons relating to the security of the Italian Republic.

It is recommended to consult the website of the Mission competent by residence.

Following the publication on the Official Journal (issue No. 22 of January 27, 2017) of the legislative decrees No. 5, 6 and 7 of January 19, 2017 - adopted pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 28, of Law No. 76 of May 20, 2016 (Provisions regulating civil partnerships between same-sex people and provisions applied to people living together) – as from February 11, 2017 applications for Italian citizenship can be submitted online, pursuant to Articles 5 and 7 of Law No. 91/1992, also by male or female foreign citizens who established a civil partnership with male or female Italian citizens.

6. Acquisition by residence

Article 9 of the Law envisages the granting of Italian citizenship by Decree of the President of the Republic, providing for different ways and methods based on specific requirements of the applicants and graduating the period of legal residence necessary to legitimize the submission of the related application.

As a general rule, for non-EU foreigners, legal residence on the territory of the Italian State for at least 10 years is required (Article 9, subparagraph f), but there are many cases for which the period of residence required is lower:

- 3 years of legal residence: for the foreigners whose father, mother or any of the ascendants in a direct line of second degree were Italians by birth or for the foreigners born in Italy and residing there;

- 4 years for the citizen of an EU Member State;

- 5 years of legal residence following adoption for the foreigners of legal age, or following the recognition of status for stateless people or political refugees.

The requirement of residence is not envisaged for the foreigners who also worked abroad for the Italian State for at least five years (Article 9, subparagraph c).

As to the cases which apply only to the Italian territory, reference is made to the Interior Ministry for the related regulations.

7. GRANTING OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIPS PURSUANT TO SPECIAL MERITS

Article 9, paragraph 2, lays down that Italian citizenship may be granted by Decree of the President of the Republic - after hearing the Council of State’s opinion and upon resolution of the Council of Ministers, upon proposal of the Interior Minister, jointly with the Foreign Minister - to foreigners who rendered eminent services to Italy, or when there is an exceptional interest of the State.

The starting of the procedure does not require an initiative of the subject concerned, but requires a proposal made by bodies, organizations, public personalities, associations, etc. proving a thorough assessment of the existence of the requirements established by law.

The procedure envisages to obtain the opinions of the law enforcement agencies and, for those living in Italy, of the Prefecture of the place of residence.

It is, however, necessary to obtain the declaration of agreement by the party interested in acquiring citizenship.

Even in this case, the Presidential Decree granting Italian citizenship is not effective if the person concerned, when living abroad, does not take the oath of allegiance to the Republic, as provided for by Article 10 of the Law.

The achievement of status civitatis shall be effective as from the day following the oath.

8. GRANTING OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIPS PURSUANT TO SPECIAL LAWS

Law No. 379 of December 14, 2000

The declaration designed to obtain Italian citizenship for the persons born and formerly living in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and their descendants, pursuant to Law 379/2000, could be made by December 20, 2010 to the Italian consular authorities, if the applicant was living abroad, or to the Civil Status Registrar of the Municipality, if the applicant was living in Italy.

The applications submitted by the deadline are examined by an interministerial Committee set up within the Interior Ministry, which provides its opinion on the existence of the requirements set by law. If the opinion is favourable, the Interior Ministry issues authorization to the granting of citizenship.

The necessary requirements for granting Italian citizenship are the following:

- birth and residence of the ancestor in the territories formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and annexed to Italy at the end of the First World War in compliance with the Treaty of San Germano;

- emigration abroad of the ancestor between December 25, 1867 and July 16, 1920.

Law no. 124 of March 8, 2006

It provides for recognition of Italian citizenship to:

theItalian nationals living in Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia from 1940 to 1947, who lost their property when those territories were assigned to the Yugoslav Republic in accordance with the Treaties of Paris of February 10, 1947, and their descendants;

the Italian nationals living until 1977 in the so-called “Zone B” of the former Free Territory of Trieste, who lost Italian citizenship when said territory was assigned to the Yugoslav Republic pursuant to the Treaty of Osimo of November 10, 1975, and their descendants.

The applications shall be submitted to the Italian diplomatic-consular authorities if the applicants live abroad, or to the Municipality if living in Italy.

There are two separate groups of beneficiaries:

A. People subject to Article 19 of the Paris Peace Treaty, as already living in the territories assigned in 1947.

With a view to proving the existence of the requirements stated in Article 17 bis, paragraph 1, subparagraph a), of Law No. 91/92, the following documents shall be attached to the application:

a) birth certificate, possibly based on the international model;

b) certificate demonstrating foreign citizenship;

c) certificate of current residence;

d) certificate or other documents proving residence on June 10, 1940 in the territories assigned to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;

e) certification proving that the applicant was an Italian citizen on September 15, 1947- the date in which the Paris Peace Treaty took effect (or other equally valid documentation such as certificate of military service, passport, etc.);

f) written confirmation from any clubs, associations or communities of Italians located in the foreign country of residence, demonstrating the applicant’s date of membership, usual language used and any other fact proving his/her knowledge of the Italian language;

g) any other documentation proving the applicant’s knowledge of the Italian language (e.g. copy of certificate of attendance of Italian-speaking schools, report cards, etc. ).

Children or direct descendants of people subject to Article 19 of the Paris Peace Treaty, who intend to avail themselves of Article 17-bis, paragraph 1, subparagraph b), shall attach the following documentation to their application for Italian citizenship:

- certification or other documentation proving that the applicant’s parent(s) or direct ancestor(s) met the requirements stated in points d-e-f-g above;

- certificate of birth confirming the applicant’s relationship with parent(s) or direct ancestor(s);

- certificate proving the applicant’s foreign citizenship;

- written confirmation from any association or community of Italians located in the applicant’s foreign country of residence proving the applicant’s knowledge of the Italian language and culture;

- any other documentation proving the claimant’s knowledge of the Italian language and culture.

B. People subject to the provisions of Article 3 of the Treaty of Osimo, formerly living in the so-called “Zone B” of the former Free Territory of Trieste

With a view to proving the existence of the requirements set in Article 17 bis, paragraph 1, subparagraph a), of Law No. 91/92, the following documents shall be attached to the application:

a) birth certificate, possibly based on the international model;

b) certificate demonstrating foreign citizenship;

c) certificate of current residence;

d) certificate or other documents proving residence and Italian citizenship on April 3, 1977 (date of the entry into force of the Treaty of Osimo);

e) written confirmation from any clubs, associations or communities of Italians located in the foreign country of residence, demonstrating the applicant’s date of membership, usual language used and any other fact proving his/her knowledge of the Italian language;

f) any other documentation proving the applicant’s belonging to the Italian ethnic group, as provided for by Article 3 above.

The children or direct descendants of people subject to Article 3 of the Osimo Treaty shall attach the following documentation to their application for Italian citizenship, submitted pursuant to Article 17-bis, paragraph 1, subparagraph b:

- certification or other documentation proving that the applicant’s parent(s) or direct ancestor(s) met the requirements stated in points d-e-f above;

- certificate of birth confirming the applicant’s relationship with parent(s) or direct ancestor(s);

- certificate proving the applicant’s foreign citizenship;

- written confirmation from any association or community of Italians located in the applicant’s foreign country of residence proving the applicant’s knowledge of the Italian language and culture;

- any other documentation proving the claimant’s knowledge of the Italian language and culture.

The applications submitted are examined by an interministerial committee set up within the Interior Ministry, which provides its opinion on the existence of the requirements set by law. If the opinion is favourable, the Interior Ministry issues authorization to the granting of citizenship.

any Italian citizen who voluntarily enlists in the armed forces of a foreign country or accepts a government post with a foreign State, despite express prohibition by Italian law (Article 12, paragraph 1, of Law No. 91/92);

any Italian citizen who served during a state of war with a foreign country, held a government post or acquired citizenship of that State (Article 12, paragraph 1, of Law No. 91/92);

adoptees for which adoption is revoked by fault of their own, provided they hold or acquire citizenship of another country (Article 3, paragraph 3, of Law No. 91/92).

B. Formal renunciation of Italian citizenship:

adoptees of legal age following revocation of adoption by fault of their own, provided they hold or reacquire citizenship of another country (Article 3, paragraph 4, of Law No. 91/92);

any Italian citizen living abroad and holding, acquiring or reacquiring citizenship of another country (Article 11 of Law No. 91/92);

any subject of legal age who acquired Italian citizenship as a minor, following the acquisition or reacquisition of citizenship from either parents, provided he/she holds citizenship of another country (Article 14 of Law No. 91/92).

In case of residence abroad, the declaration for renouncing citizenship is made to the competent consular authorities. It shall be accompanied by the following documentation:

a) birth certificate issued by the Municipality where the birth was registered;

b) certificate of Italian citizenship;

c) documentation of foreign citizenship;

d) documentation of residence abroad, where required.

Minors do NOT lose Italian citizenship if one or both parents lose it or reacquire foreign citizenship.

Women who, after January 1, 1948, automatically acquired foreign citizenship as a result of their marriage with foreign citizens or as a result of their Italian-born husbands becoming naturalized citizens of other countries did NOT lose their Italian citizenship. Nevertheless, in order to maintain the civil status records in order, those women (or their descendants) shall express their desire to maintain said citizenship to the competent consular authorities through a statement of uninterrupted possession of citizenship.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

As from August 16, 1992 (the date of entry into force of Law No. 91/92), Italian citizenship is no longer lost when the citizenship of another country is acquired unless the Italian citizens formally renounce it, subject to international agreements.

The Italian government’s denunciation of the 1963 Strasbourg Convention means that, as from June 4, 2010, Italian citizenship is no longer automatically lost for the Italians who become naturalised citizens of the countries signatories to that Convention (following the denunciation by Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France and Luxembourg, the current signatories are Austria, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.

RIACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP

The reacquisition of citizenship is regulated by the provisions of Article 13 of Law No. 91/92.In particular, citizens living abroad, who lost their citizenship, can reacquire it, pursuant to paragraph 1, subparagraph c), with a specific declaration to the competent consular authorities if they establish their residence in Italy within a year since said declaration.

Women married to foreigners prior to January 1, 1948, who - by virtue of marriage - automatically acquired their husband’s citizenship, lost the Italian citizenship and can reacquire it, even though they live abroad, by means of a declaration. In case of residence abroad, the declaration for the reacquisition of citizenship shall be made to the competent consular authorities.

The declaration shall be accompanied by the following documentation:

a) birth certificate issued by the Municipality where the birth was registered;

b) documentation proving previous Italian citizenship;

c) documentation proving foreign citizenship or stateless status;

d) family status certificate or equivalent document.

Administrative simplification

It should be recalled that - pursuant to Article 43, paragraphs 1, 46 and 47 of Presidential Decree 445/2000 (as stated in Law No. 183/2011) and considering the limitations under Article 3 of the same Presidential Decree - the Italian Public Administrations are officially obliged to acquire information, data and documentation already in their possession, pending submission by the person concerned of the details essential for retrieving such information or data.

Therefore, in case of applications for acquisition or renunciation of citizenship submitted by Italian citizens, EU or non-EU nationals legally living in Italy, the applicants are not required to provide information or data already in possession of the Italian Public Administration, but only the details essential for retrieving such information or data.

FEES

As from August 8, 2009 the applications or declarations regarding the election, acquisition, reacquisition, renunciation or granting of Italian citizenship are subject tothe payment of a fee equal to200 euro. As from July 8, 2014 applications by legal-age citizens for granting of Italian citizenship are subject to the payment of a fee equal to 300 euro for the processing of applications